The Director for Agriculture at AfDB, Dr Martin Fregene disclosed this at the fourth International conference on cassava, being organized by the Global Cassava Partnerships for the 21st Century, GCP21, in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.

He stated that transforming cassava on the African continent would help African nations to cut imports and redirect about $1.2bn into African domestic economies.

A statement made available to journalists by the IITA Communication Specialist Godwin Atser disclosed that the cassava conference was attended by more than 450 local international partners in the cassava sector, coming from research and development organizations, government, farming community, and the private sector.

The bank’s investment in cassava is coming at a time when African governments are scaling up efforts to end food imports and create wealth.

Dr Fregene said cassava was a strategic crop for Africa’s food security and wealth creation for youth and women, adding that “another dimension to the importance of cassava is in nutrition where cassava can enhance the nutrition of children directly or as feed for poultry and other livestock.”

He added that with the largest volume of cassava coming from Africa, cassava supports more than 350 million people in Africa.

The Minister of Agriculture Republic of Benin, Dr Gaston Dossouhoui said cassava remained the cheapest staple consumed by Africans, adding that “addressing the constraints of cassava production in Africa will have a positive impact on African farmers.”

He lauded the President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akin Adesina for his commitment of investing in agriculture and cassava, in particular.

The minister also commended the GCP21 for organizing the fourth International Conference on cassava, emphasizing that it would contribute to knowledge sharing that would help in removing the bottlenecks in the cassava sector.

Dr Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General for Partnerships for Delivery at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), said unlocking the potential of cassava required partnerships and close collaboration of partners to address the constraints facing cassava.

Dr Dashiell commended GCP21 for filling the gaps in cassava R&D by organizing a series of conferences with experts sharing knowledge on innovations in cassava.